Activists Demand 190,000 over Police Brutality

Six right-wing activists sue for 190,000 over alleged brutality during arrest.

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 5/7/2013, 2:37 PM

Jew arrested on Temple Mount (illustrative)

Flash 90

Six activists are suing the Israel Police and Prison Services for 190,000 shekels, claiming police brutality and illegal searching.

The lawsuit was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court via attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, a well-known nationalist activist and former parliamentary aide to then-MK Michael Ben-Ari.

The six plaintiffs, two of them minors, were arrested during protests in Jerusalem against the demolition of homes in Maaleh Rehavam.

Three of them claim that during a protest near the Knesset building they were arrested with undue force. They say police threw them to the ground, pulled their beards and hit them for no apparent reason.

They and the other three plaintiffs were taken after their arrest to be held in the police station in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. They say that guards conducted a unduly humiliating search, in some cases using force.

The court previously accepted a similar lawsuit, and ordered police to pay 25,000 shekels in compensation to a young man who was illegally searched.

“Unfortunately, only when we sue for damages do the police and Prison Services internalize the fact that they must abide by the law,” attorney Ben-Gvir said. “These lawsuits send a message to police officers and prison guards that they must do their duty, but alsomost carefully uphold the law.”